Cheaper homes, bigger lots, $7-a-day daycare and tax breaks for parents are drawing many families to Gatineau from Ottawa. But some say they'll likely move back to Ottawa for the lower taxes and better health care once their kids are grown

Cheaper houses with bigger lots, $7-a-day daycare and generous tax breaks for parents are drawing many families with young children to Gatineau from Ottawa.

"I feel we have more than if we lived in Ottawa," said Theresa Mantha, a mother of four children who moved to Gatineau's Aylmer district seven years ago.

Mantha, whose husband works as a teacher in Ottawa, was at first reluctant to consider living in Quebec because she doesn't speak French. But the couple, who had two children at the time, couldn't find any affordable homes even in suburbs such as Barrhaven.

"In Aylmer...the house pricing was phenomenally way down, and the lots you get are so much bigger than what you get in Ottawa, so it's definitely worth your money," she said. The family managed to buy a threebedroom semi-detached home with a "nice-sized" yard, close to the Champlain bridge.